FIU Special Collections contibutes materials from its Caribbean collections.

TheEnrique Hurtado de Mendoza Collection of Cuban Genealogy was acquired by FIU Libraries Special Collections in 2012 and includes rare 17th and 18th century books, handwritten and typed letters, long out-of-print publications and periodicals, photos and other primary documents relating to Cuba and Cuban genealogy, collected over four decades by Felix Enrique Hurtado de Mendoza. The online collection of select materials, digitized by the Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami, makes thousands of unpublished family genealogies and manuscripts available for research online.

The Flora of the Caribbean makes available photographic documentation of Caribbean plants vouchered and expertly identified by Dr. Scott Zona during his 25 years of botanical research in the Caribbean. His area of special interest is the palm family (Arecaceae), but the collection includes images of many other plant families and scenes from natural areas in which he collected. Many of his images are of plants he collected and deposited in museums which are noted in the image citations.

FIU and The Center for Caribbean Thought collaborated to digitize and make available Abeng and Struggle, two important newspapers published in Jamaica in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Abeng was a political center for the Black Power movement, socialists, the independent trade union movement, Rastafarians, supporters of the opposition People’s National Party and people disaffected with the two main political parties. In 1974, Struggle began as the mimeographed newsletter of the Workers Liberation League which gave critical support to Michael Manley’s democratic socialist program in the 1970s.

FIU Special Collections is also contributing historical Cuban pamphlets and postcardsfrom its collection. These diverse pamphlets from the 18th and 19th Century, ranging in topics that include economics, law, the arts, geography and slavery, were donated to FIU from a private collection.

SubCollections

As a well-traveled journalist, Bernard Diederich witnessed and even participated in countless events important to Caribbean and Central American history. His papers and media collection will thus provide invaluable sources to those who are interested in history, political science, international relations, and journalism, especially those who would like to learn more about Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and Cuba, where Diederich worked for more than fifty years.Bernard Diederich Collection

The Enrique Hurtado de Mendoza Collections includes thousands of books, handwritten and typed letters, photos and other primary documents relating to Cuba and Cuban genealogy, collected over four decades by Felix Enrique Hurtado de Mendoza, including rare 17th and 18th century books, long out-of-print publications and periodicals. Additionally, thousands of unpublished family genealogies and manuscripts make this collection particularly significant.Enrique Hurtado de Mendoza Collection of Cuban Genealogy